Abstract
The field of development studies considers the natures of systemic and structural change and
improvement/deterioration, for societies, for the persons who constitute them, and for the world that they
constitute. Ideas about criteria of improvement and deterioration are logically central to development
practice and development studies. However, they often remain tacit, incoherent, or unfollowed. The
chapter centres on patterns of concealment of ethical questions and choices, that have been found in much
development studies and practice; and notes some efforts to reveal these patterns, address suppressed
questions and choices, and propose ethically superior options. The main examples will be from
anthropogenic climate change and ethical assessment of development-related displacement of groups of
people, with special attention to how to respond to harm inflicted by development programmes. Finally,
the chapter suggests some current agenda points for development ethics work.
improvement/deterioration, for societies, for the persons who constitute them, and for the world that they
constitute. Ideas about criteria of improvement and deterioration are logically central to development
practice and development studies. However, they often remain tacit, incoherent, or unfollowed. The
chapter centres on patterns of concealment of ethical questions and choices, that have been found in much
development studies and practice; and notes some efforts to reveal these patterns, address suppressed
questions and choices, and propose ethically superior options. The main examples will be from
anthropogenic climate change and ethical assessment of development-related displacement of groups of
people, with special attention to how to respond to harm inflicted by development programmes. Finally,
the chapter suggests some current agenda points for development ethics work.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Concise Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics in the Social Sciences |
| Editors | Tuija Takala, Matti Häyry |
| Place of Publication | Cheltenham |
| Publisher | Edward Elgar Publishing |
| Chapter | 9 |
| Pages | 62-68 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Edition | 1 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978 1 80088 169 3 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978 1 80088 168 6 |
| Publication status | Published - 2024 |
